Teach Not Preach

I GOT MAIL! Yeah, I get mail all the time, but this one caught my eye. It came from James Morrison, who writes:

I am a public high school teacher in Red Wing, Minnesota. I teach a course that critically examines religion. What I do is extremely rare. Extremely! I recently started a blog about my experiences, and I think your followers might find it of interest (especially my most recent post). The site is below. Have a great day! Keep up the great work!

Firstly I’d like to thank James for alerting me to this site, and because of the great content and unique position he is in, being a religious education teacher who teaches even and considered information about religion, I’d suggest you all have a look at his site. His approach, from what I can see is what we need more of in this world, and educating kids about what religion is, rather than what it is presented as by most people.

An extract from his “About” page reads:

For nearly eighteen years I have taught a world religion course in a public high school in Red Wing, Minnesota. It is a course and curriculum that I developed.

What I do is very rare and controversial, and people often assume that what I am doing is illegal. It is not. The Supreme Court has made it very clear that teaching about religion in public schools is not only legal but necessary for a student’s understanding of the world.

The site covers many interesting topics, not just James’ observations from his teaching, but also some other topics around his own views on religion, culture and teaching. It’s very refreshing to see that there are those willing to respect the separation of church and state, while educating young minds to be critical in their thought.